The unexpected and unscripted moments are often when some of the most significant travel memories are experienced.
Our guests had a son studying Arabic abroad at a Jordanian university and his family took advantage of this opportunity to travel to Jordan themselves. They wanted to see the great tour sites of Jordan, interact with the culture and get a glimpse of their son’s study abroad experience.
This day, the family was learning to cook a traditional meal in a local home in Orjan. Despite the language barrier and what some people would call a religion barrier, one Jordanian woman and four Americans were learning, interacting, and smiling together in a tiny kitchen.
Then it happened. As they shared in preparing Magloubeh, differences, similarities, nothing mattered…there was a connection, a respect, and an enjoyment of the other.
My friend Mohammad and I had a sideline view of the kitchen and enjoyed seeing social and cultural barriers had disappeared for the moment. We only smelled roasted eggplant, cauliflower and could see the smiles, laughter, and mutual appreciation in a crammed kitchen.
